Gadhafi Dead and Buried in Secret Location, Supporters Executed

Libyans filed past Moammar Gadhafi's decomposing body for a fourth day on Monday, keen to see for themselves that the fallen strongman was dead, while talks dragged on among emerging local factions over disposing of the corpse. Beside Gadhafi's body are the bodies of his son Mutassim (R) and his army head Abu Bakr Younis. Photo: Reuters

Moammar Gadhafi, who was shot dead last Thursday, was buried in a secret desert location by Libya's interim government on Tuesday morning. He was laid to rest with Mutassim Gadhafi, his son and the former National Security Adviser of Libya.

He was taken over early in the morning and he has just been buried now in the desert along with his son, National Transitional Council commander Abdel Majid Mlegta stated.

Sometime in the days before Gadhafi's death, 53 of the despot's supporters were executed in a Sirte hotel, according to Human Rights Watch.

“We found 53 decomposing bodies, apparently Gadhafi supporters, at an abandoned hotel in Sirte, and some had their hands bound behind their backs when they were shot,” said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, who investigated the killings. “This requires the immediate attention of the Libyan authorities to investigate what happened and hold accountable those responsible.”

The soldiers were likely executed by anti-Gadhafi fighters using AK-47 and FN-1 rifles between Oct. 14 and Oct. 19. Among the bodies were former Gadhafi government official Ezzidin al-Hinsheri, military officer Muftah Dabroun, and at least two Sirte residents.

“The evidence suggests that some of the victims were shot while being held as prisoners, when that part of Sirte was controlled by anti-Gadhafi brigades who appear to act outside the control of the National Transitional Council,” Bouckaert said. “If the NTC fails to investigate this crime it will signal that those who fought against Gadhafi can do anything without fear of prosecution.”

Investigating Gadhafi's Death

Buried along with Gadhafi are the hopes of using his body for an investigation into how he died. Gadhafi was captured in the battle of Sirte and died as NTC fighters took him to Misrata, but what happened in between is unclear. Video taken immediately after his capture show the revolutionary fighters beating their former leader, but the government maintains that Gadhafi died from bullet wounds when loyalist fighters attacked the convoy carrying the ousted dictator.

Some speculate that Gadhafi was executed, while others said he bled out from wounds sustained during his capture.

“It looks [like] there was an element of mob rule in this, and he was indeed killed in the back of the truck,” British MP Jeremy Corbyn told The Associated Press.

“And this really does raise some question marks about the command and discipline of the NTC forces and what Libya is going to be like, not just tomorrow, but next month, next year and the next ten years.

The United Nations has called on Libyan authorities to conduct an open and thorough investigation, but Gadhafi and Mutassim's bodies will now not be pieces of evidence.

More details are needed to ascertain whether he was killed in some form of fighting or was executed after his capture, said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The two cell phone videos that have emerged, one of him alive, and one of him dead, taken together are very disturbing.

You can't just chuck the law out of the window, he told the AP. Killing someone outside a judicial procedure, even in countries where there is the death penalty, is outside the rule of law.

After the capture on Thursday, the two bodies, along with the body of Gadhafi's army chief Abu Bakr Younis, were kept in a meat freezer in Misrata for four days as NTC leaders tried to figure out what do to with them. Hundreds of members of the public were allowed to come in and view the bodies.

According to Reuters, Gadhafi's wounds and bruises were covered by a blanket and his head was turned so that the bullet hole could not be seen.